By Kat Barnard

Special to the Weekly

New coach Pete Gruenwald has a goal this year to keep the energy up. Last year the Lobos won 14 games and ended first in the league.

This year, the five returning girls are all taking leadership roles and will have to work with the new players as the season progresses, says Coach Gruenwald.

Seniors Emalie Hobi and Sophie Burton have experience on the court, even with losing two seniors to graduation. Every girl matters on a small team like this.

With only eight high schoolers coming out for the team, every girl will get playing time. There is even potential to get some 8th graders (Siri Dye, Sonnette Roberson, and Autumn Miller) on the team this year, pending league approval.

This means more experience over the years, and that shows when looking at the results from last year. Even with a short team, these girls won 11 games in a row, playing hard.

Juniors Paula Gende, Antonia Beck, sophomores Anah-Kate Drahn and Jana Gruenwald, and freshmen Zoe Reinmuth and Grace Zoerb all plan on working hard and maintaining the momentum from last year.

1B basketball changes a lot every season with such small teams, one player graduating can change the whole game. Therefore, nobody knows what’s in store this season as far as competition goes.

The Lady Lobos are really aggressive and smart basketball players and they continue to make lofty goals, and achieve them.

Emalie, Sophie, Anah-Kate, Jana, and Zoe all play together in many sports. Their numbers may be small, but returning player Jana proved herself in scoring and Zoe controlled the paint and dominated in rebounds.

Last year, the Girls’ Basketball team showed up big-time with major wins over the Tulalip rivals. With only 6 players at the game on Dec. 17th, “the team focused on passing, shooting, and having fun” said prior coach Deanna Brant.